Perry, talking to reporters after a speech to a National Federation of Independent Business/Texas conference, suggested there’s blame to go around but said Obama bears the brunt of it.

“Certainly I think both sides could stand in a circle and point to the left and get it right to say it’s their fault,” Perry said, “but Americans are begging for leadership.”

Perry said states like Texas approach accountability in government correctly.

If Texas leaders “didn’t get our work done,” Perry said, the Legislature, lieutenant governor and House speaker all would “catch flak.”

“But the governor would be the one who truly would be in the spotlight,” Perry said.

The same is true at the federal level, he said.

“The president of the United States needs to sit down and work out a deal where we know that essential services are still going to be taken care of. I mean, come on, in a 3-point-however-many-trillion-dollar budget, you can’t find $85 billion that’s not going to shut down border security, or put our military men and women at jeopardy, or lose 1,000 teachers from the classroom?” Perry asked.

“Quite playing politics, Mr. President, and get to work,” he said.

Obama, appearing in Virginia today, said too many Republicans who won’t compromise. From Politico’s report:

“There are too many Republicans in Congress right now who refuse to compromise even an inch when it comes to closing tax loopholes and special interest tax breaks,” Obama said. “Keep in mind, nobody is asking them to raise income tax rates. All we’re asking is for them to consider closing tax loopholes and deductions.”

Perry, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, has left the door open to another White House race in 2016.